Friday, November 2, 2007

Fixing Leaky Gas Pipes Seen as Next CO2 Grab

We are tickled pink by this story from Reuters.Why, our wary and long suffering reader may well ask?Because three days ago CI posted "Natural Gas' Dirty Little Secret" which led with this paragraph:

I've seen estimates that between 1 and 10% (rather a large range, eh) of all natural gas is lost as leakage. Maybe 15% in Russia (thanks Gazprom). As a greenhouse gas methane is over 20 times more potent than CO2 (The article says 24 x). Here's a guy with some ideas.

It's not every day you get a head-start on Reuters, although, like Irish horses. they are closers.Or to really mix the metaphors, Climateer Investing might win the20 metre mosey; Reuters will take the Mile.Backward, in heels*, wearing Chanel.In other words, bet on class. Here's Reuters (via Planet Ark):

Plugging leaky natural gas pipelines in Eastern Europe could be the next big business opportunity in reducing climate changing emissions, the freshly selected chair of a global greenhouse gas business group said.

"They have a lot of leaky valves," Jack Cogen, the president and CEO of greenhouse gas asset manager Natsource LLC, said about Eastern Europe's natural gas distribution system. The Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association this month selected Cogen to chair the business group.

"It will take a lot of manual labor. You've got to go to each valve, check them and fix them. It's time consuming," he said in an interview on the sidelines of a carbon trade conference.

Natural gas, or methane, has more than 20 times the greenhouse potential of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas. Cogen said leaks afflict larger pipelines going from gas producers to power plants as well as smaller ones going to homes for heating. Fixing them could be the next big source of carbon credits.

In greenhouse gas markets, coal-fired power plants and other big polluters can meet emissions limits by buying credits that represent emissions reductions. Projects such as burning biomass for energy in Thailand, or putting waste heat from iron plants to work in India, generate many of the credits. Investors pay for the projects and bank the credits hoping they will rise in value.